The news that UNC reserve forward Alex Stepheson is transferring to be closer to his native California made me think about someone else who once headed West. That, of course, would be Kramer, who (briefly) moved to L.A. to pursue an acting career after a showdown with Jerry over his spare keys.
The Trip was a two-parter to kick off Season 4. George accompanied Jerry to L.A. for Jerry's appearance on The Tonight Show, and while there they reconnected with Kramer, who had become the prime suspect in a serial-killer case. We mentioned this episode briefly earlier today for the scene in which Jerry and George ride in the same police car with the man who turns out to be the real Smog Strangler, played by Clint Howard, Ron's brother. (He gets away.)
In my opinion, the end of Season Three headed into Season Four is when Seinfeld went from a good sitcom with a lot of promise right to the short list of best sitcoms ever. (I put it first, but I'm biased.)
I didn't watch any of the first five seasons when they originally aired. First I was in college and then I spent three years working as an investment banker, and during that stretch I watched almost no primetime TV aside from the occasional sporting event. I had too much going on. After I left the investment bank, though, I took a year off before heading to journalism grad school.
One thing I did that year was rediscover TV. My younger brother had used an old machine called a "VCR" to tape a number of Seinfeld episodes. In particular, he had saved most of the end of Season Three and the start of Season Four in sequence.
Almost immediately, I was hooked. Before long I was trying my hand at writing Seinfeld scripts; I cranked out two. (Like Jerry says in The Keys, you gotta watch the show, study it, get a sense of the characters, see how they relate to each other. You don't just write a Murphy Brown.) I briefly thought about switching dream careers from would-be sportswriter to prospective sitcom writer, but ended up sticking with Plan A. (Or was it Plan B? It's hard to keep track now.)
Anyway, sorry to get maudlin, but that's a little about what Seinfeld has meant to me. At this point I am confident I have seen all 180 episodes multiple times. And I still catch a few shows a week, even though I know most of the lines by heart. I find it relaxing, like yoga for the spirit. It's comfortable, it's familiar, and it's still funny.
Thus concludes Seinfeld Day here at the 10 Spot. Hope you've enjoyed it, or at least endured it. I will be around in the comments section for a while. Have a great weekend.
New Orleans Saints Camp
Comments (193)
My favorite episode by far was the one where George is sick but doesn't want to pay for medicine, or something like that. He takes a cheap herbal remedy that turns him a bright shade of green or some such color. They rush him to the hospital and on the way one ambulance attendant beats up the other. Then as he is threatening Jerry and Kramer they get in an accident because he isn't watching where he is driving.
mleonard | 05/16/08, 04:52 PM
Report Offensive CommentThat was beautiful, Pete.
Galloping_Ghost | 05/16/08, 04:53 PM
Report Offensive CommentI also liked the one where George was trying to set the record on the frogger machine and he ends up playing for real with the video machine and it gets hit by the truck.
mleonard | 05/16/08, 04:53 PM
Report Offensive CommentWow, Pete, pretty impressive. 10 posts in a day! You must have had to really crinkle, crease, cram to fit all those into one day.
Stack1009 | 05/16/08, 04:53 PM
Report Offensive CommentVery nice Pete! Sorry I have been unable to participate in the festivities today.
Lisa - | 05/16/08, 04:55 PM
Report Offensive CommentPete, most impressive work today, even moreso since you didn't even watch the first 5 seasons when originally aired.
"YOU DA MAN..."
rock_chalk | 05/16/08, 04:58 PM
Report Offensive CommentLisa,
Is that a Monica Lewinsky avatar?
Tko27 | 05/16/08, 04:58 PM
Report Offensive Comment"I spent three years working as an investment banker..."
Pete
I've always wanted to pretend to be an investment banker. And with that, I'm import/exporting myself back home to see the Gs. Little G likes to play trivial pursuit. It's about all he can do from inside that bubble.
Mark G | 05/16/08, 05:00 PM
Report Offensive Commentdream careers from would-be sportswriter to prospective sitcom writer,
--------------------
But, Pete, you HAVE fulfilled your dream to be a comedy writer!
*smiles and ducks*
Marshall K. - Top Cat | 05/16/08, 05:00 PM
Report Offensive CommentI don't know that I have a favorite episode so to speak, but more like favorite moments. Such as when George's parents are eating dinner with Susan's parents and his father gets off on the rant about the rooster, the chicken and the hen.
Stack1009 | 05/16/08, 05:01 PM
Report Offensive CommentMy favorite episode by far was the one where George is sick but doesn't want to pay for medicine, or something like that. He takes a cheap herbal remedy that turns him a bright shade of green or some such color. They rush him to the hospital and on the way one ambulance attendant beats up the other. Then as he is threatening Jerry and Kramer they get in an accident because he isn't watching where he is driving.
mleonard
----
That's a very early episode, No. 13, The Heart Attack. It's funny you mention that one.
Almost a year ago, shortly after the 10 Spot went to a blog format, I cited that episode in a post, shortly before the Cavs met the Spurs in the NBA Finals. You might recall that Jerry had scribbled down something when he awoke in the middle of the night and was trying to decipher what it said. He asked the herbalist guy, who laughed and said it read, "Cleveland 117, San Antonio 109." So my post was asking whether that 1991 episode had foretold the finals matchup.
Anyway, a short time later a blogger devoted an entire post to how much ****. I believe the title was something like "Pete McEntegart Should Be Depantsed." And one of his main pieces of "evidence" is that I was quoting a show that had been off the air for nearly a decade, presumably underscoring what a dinasour I am among today's young, hip, blogging community.
The 10 Spot | 05/16/08, 05:02 PM
Report Offensive Commentdream careers from would-be sportswriter to prospective sitcom writer,
--------------------
But, Pete, you HAVE fulfilled your dream to be a comedy writer!
*smiles and ducks*
Marshall K.
----
Well, I have stumbled into an unusual melange of the two, certainly.
The 10 Spot | 05/16/08, 05:03 PM
Report Offensive CommentMy favorite episode by far was the one where George is sick but doesn't want to pay for medicine, or something like that. He takes a cheap herbal remedy that turns him a bright shade of green or some such color. They rush him to the hospital and on the way one ambulance attendant beats up the other. Then as he is threatening Jerry and Kramer they get in an accident because he isn't watching where he is driving.
mleonard
----
That's a very early episode, No. 13, The Heart Attack. It's funny you mention that one.
Almost a year ago, shortly after the 10 Spot went to a blog format, I cited that episode in a post, shortly before the Cavs met the Spurs in the NBA Finals. You might recall that Jerry had scribbled down something when he awoke in the middle of the night and was trying to decipher what it said. He asked the herbalist guy, who laughed and said it read, "Cleveland 117, San Antonio 109." So my post was asking whether that 1991 episode had foretold the finals matchup.
Anyway, a short time later a blogger devoted an entire post to how much ****. I believe the title was something like "Pete McEntegart Should Be Depantsed." And one of his main pieces of "evidence" is that I was quoting a show that had been off the air for nearly a decade, presumably underscoring what a dinasour I am among today's young, hip, blogging community.
The 10 Spot
------
The bleeped-out part was "how much I s-u-c-k."
The 10 Spot | 05/16/08, 05:04 PM
Report Offensive CommentAnyway, a short time later a blogger devoted an entire post to how much ****. I believe the title was something like "Pete McEntegart Should Be Depantsed." And one of his main pieces of "evidence" is that I was quoting a show that had been off the air for nearly a decade, presumably underscoring what a dinasour I am among today's young, hip, blogging community.
The 10 Spot
+++++++++++
If the shoe fits Pete, but you are still well liked buy us old fogeys.
manta | 05/16/08, 05:04 PM
Report Offensive Commentdon't know that I have a favorite episode so to speak, but more like favorite moments. Such as when George's parents are eating dinner with Susan's parents and his father gets off on the rant about the rooster, the chicken and the hen.
Stack1009
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That's perverse!
The 10 Spot | 05/16/08, 05:05 PM
Report Offensive CommentOn a more serious note, I've not been participating that much since I'm not a Seinfeld fan, but I'll have to say it's been interesting.
Marshall K. - Top Cat | 05/16/08, 05:07 PM
Report Offensive CommentAnd one of his main pieces of "evidence" is that I was quoting a show that had been off the air for nearly a decade, presumably underscoring what a dinasour I am among today's young, hip, blogging community.
The 10 Spot | 05/16/08, 05:02 PM
===========================
Don't worry, Pete. Those of us who frequent the 10 Spot know that you're no hipster doofus.
Tim in NY | 05/16/08, 05:08 PM
Report Offensive CommentMy favorite Seinfeld theme is his whole riff on the residents of Florida retirement communities. I don't know if it's funny if you haven't been exposed to the real thing, but if you have (as I was through my ex-wife's family), it is absolutely hilarious. From the obsession with the Early Bird Special to the ultra-precise calculation of the tip and splitting the cost of dinner to the blinking signal light on the Cadillac after Jack Klompus has run it into the swamp, Seinfeld manages to capture the whole thing perfectly.
Martel - Moopsbane | 05/16/08, 05:10 PM
Report Offensive CommentAnd one of his main pieces of "evidence" is that I was quoting a show that had been off the air for nearly a decade, presumably underscoring what a dinasour I am among today's young, hip, blogging community.
The 10 Spot | 05/16/08, 05:02 PM
===========================
Don't worry, Pete. Those of us who frequent the 10 Spot know that you're no hipster doofus.
Tim in NY
----
What do you know, Tim, you're older than me.
Do I have a wall of hair and a face like a frying pan?
The 10 Spot | 05/16/08, 05:12 PM
Report Offensive CommentI have watched all six episodes of Police Squad.
Jim from Milwaukee | 05/16/08, 05:14 PM
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